MacNeil Curry, head of global technical strategy at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, began the year bearish on stocks, but their recent rebound has changed his tune.

"Up until [Thursday] we had been bearish risk assets and the S&P 500," he wrote in a commentary Friday obtained by CNBC. "[Thursday's] close above 1,823 says that view is WRONG and that the larger uptrend has resumed."

Things were looking good for Curry's negative view until Feb. 5, when the Standard & Poor's 500 Index hit a low of 1,737.92, putting its year-to-date decline at 6 percent.

Editor's Note: Secret Wall Street Calendar Uses Strange ‘Crash Alert System,’ Gets 18.79% Annual Returns

"The setup was pretty bearish," he told CNBC. "We had the impulse of decline from the highs of 1,850, fairly negative seasonals and a pretty sharp deterioration of breadth. With all of that, I was pretty confident we would head lower and probably take a run at 1,711."

Instead, the S&P 500 has rebounded 5.8 percent from the Feb. 5 low to close at 1,838.63 Friday.

"That we've then reversed as hard as we have and started to trade quite bullishly says I'm wrong," Curry added.

The S&P 500 is now set to test 1,850 and perhaps 1,872, he predicted.

Others are positive on stocks too. "I think the market is still believing that the economy is moving in the right direction," Robert Pavlik, chief market strategist at Banyan Partners, told Bloomberg.

"Folks are looking to buy on the dips. The pullback is still fresh, and they're looking for opportunities."

Editor's Note: Secret Wall Street Calendar Uses Strange ‘Crash Alert System,’ Gets 18.79% Annual Returns

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